Automatic stop motion



Nov. 10, 1942. G. E. REPASS 2,301,749

AUTOMATIC STOP MOTION Filed Aug. 50, 1941 a. B Z A 4a 1 if IN V EN TOR.526/7036 A TTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 10, 1942 AUTOMATIC STOP MOTION George E. Repass,Pawtucket, R. I., assignor to H & B American Machine Company, acorporation of Maine Application August 30, 1941, Serial No. 409,014

4 Claims.

This invention relates to automatic stop motions, and has particularreference to an automatic stop motion device of the mechanical type formachines which apply a twist to a longitudinally moving strand ofmaterial as it is wound upon a rotating bobbin or other usual take-upreceiver supported upon and rotated by a positively driven verticalwinding spindle.

An object of the invention is to provide a machine of the type indicatedabove with a stop motion device in conjunction with the feeding andwinding mechanisms for the individual strands in which each strand willcontrol the operation of its particular feeding and winding mechanism ina manner so that in the event of breakage of the strand the stop motionwill not only automatically stop further feed of the broken strand to abobbin or spool on which the twisted strand is being wound but it willalso stop the rotation of the particular winding mechanism for thestrand.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stop motion associatedwith a frictionally driven winding spindle and rendered effective toautomatically cause the operation of the indi vidual braking means forany of the spindles to stop the rotation of a particular spindle at thetime that the feed of the strand is stopped following breakage of astrand but without stopping the rotation of the positively drivendriving means for the spindle.

A further object is to provide a stop motion which will be renderedeffective to automatically stop the feeding of any strand to itsparticular spindle and the winding thereof whenever breakage occurs ofany strand, but which will not become operative upon slight slackness inthe twisted strand between the feeding rolls and any bobbin, such aswould be caused by the stopping of the entire machine.

A still further object of the invention is to increase the production ofmachines of the above class by the reduction to a minimum of the loss inidle time and waste in material involved, when any strand becomesbroken, in twisting the strands.

The invention is broadly applicable to any machine for winding strandmaterial upon a positively rotated bobbin or spool as the strand leavesa pair of feed rolls. The invention is useful in connection with varioustextile machines in which yarns, sliver, rovings, thread, etc, are drawnalong and packaged upon bobbins or spools, such as twister frames,spinning machines, and winding machines. More particularly, theinvention has been adapted and illustrated as embodied in connectionwith a machine for making twisted paper string or twine.

Briefly, the invention is directed to a stopmotion device associatedwith each spindle 01' a spinning or twisting machine, and comprises aspring-loaded, retractile, stop-motion actuating rod movable by itsspring from a retracted position to effect simultaneously the raising ofa pivoted support carrying one of a pair of coacting feed rolls to stopthe ieed of the strand material to a particular winding spindle and theoperation of an individual brake mechanism associated with the spindleto stop the rotation of the spindle and the bobbin thereon. Thestopmotion actuating rod is normally held inoperative and in apotentially charged, retracted position'by means of a pivoted latchlever having three arms, one of which is formed with a tooth or catchelement which engages an abutment on the retracted rod. The latch leveris pivoted at the outer end of another arm whereby appropriate swingingmovement of the latch lever will move the tooth or catch element intooperative and inoperative positions. Pivoted to the third arm of thelatch lever is a feeler mount having a tail piece which is normally heldin an elevated position out of the path of oscillation oi a positivelydriven oscillatory knock-01f member but when either the strand materialbreaks or gives out, the tail piece will drop in front of and becomecoupled by means of a projection to said knockoff member which duringits next forward swing will engage and push forward the pivoted latchlever and the feeier mount as a rigid body a suliicient distance todisengage the tooth from the abutment to release the retractedstop-motion actuating rod and permit it to be acuated by its spring tostop the feeding and the winding of a particular strand.

The invention also consists in the features of construction andoperation of the several parts of the device which is hereinafter fullydescribed in the following specification taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the mecha nism of this invention asapplied to a machine for making twisted paper string or twine andshowing certain parts in section with the feeler being shown held in itsnormal depressed position by the unbroken strand and with the springactuated rod being engaged by and held in a retracted position by thelatch lever;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view, on smaller scale, taken on the line 22 ofFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view in side elevation of the latchmechanism of the stop motion device illustrated in Fig. 1 but with therockable feeler being shown swung upwardly from its normal depressedposition following the breakage of a strand and after effecting therelease of the spring actuated rod which i shown in its unlockedposition;

Fig. 4 is a detail in front elevation of the positively drivenoscillatable knock-off arm;

Fig. 5 is a detail in perspective of the latch lever for locking thespring-charged rod in its retracted and inoperative position; and

Fig. 6 represents diagrammatically the crosssectional shape of the paperribbon as it issues from the former device but before being compressedand twisted.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, Hi generally designates a spindleupon which a bobbin, spool or other take-up receiver for a strandmaterial (not shown) is mounted for rotation within a ring H. In thetwister illustrated the spindle l0 and the ring II are each one of aseries of spindles and associated rings of a paper twine machine thegeneral construction of which is similar to twister frames commonlyemployed in the textile industry for twisting cotton sliver or rovingbut it differs therefrom by being arranged to operate upon a relativelynarrow strip or ribbon of paper to form a twisted paper strand. As isclearly shown in Figure 1, each ring I I is fixedly mounted upon theusual reciprocable rail l2 in such a manner that the top edge of thering is spaced from the rail, and loosely mounted upon each of saidrings in the usual well known manner is an ear-shaped traveler i3 thatrests upon the upper edge of the ring I and travels circumferentiallyabout the ring as the rotating bobbin (not shown) carried by the spindleIi) draws the twisted strand M onto itself. The traveler |3 moves aboutthe ring H as a track as the ring is traversed up and down by the raill2 in accordance with a predetermined traversing motion and the travelerputs the desired twist in the strand material It passing therethroughand lays it onto the bobbin to form thereon a package of wound twistedmaterial of a desired build.

The spindle I9 is substantially the same as that shown, described andclaimed in the co-pending application of Clarence E. Buote, Serial No.378,- 755, flied February 13, 1941, and comprises an annular member 2|of friction material interposed between the fixed flange 3!} on thespindle blade 22 and the freely rotatable positively driven whirl 23carried by the upper tubular extension of the spindle base. The frictionring 2| may form a clutch facing on either said flange or said whirl andsince the spindle blade is yieldably supported for longitudinal movementwithin the spindle base the Weight of the spindle blade assemblynormally presses the flange 30 against the Whirl 23 and establishes africtional driving connection with the ring 2| for rotating the spindleblade and the bobbin thereon during the normal running of the spindle.stoppage of the spindle blade 22 is effected by separation of thefrictional connection of the flange 3|] with the whirl 23 and byapplying braking pressure to the flange 39. The spindle arrangement alsoincludes a brake device which consists of a lever 25 pivotedintermediate its ends on the upper end of the upright support 26 toprovide long and short arm members.

The short lever arm is bifurcated 75 to form two parallel yoke arms 21which embrace the opposite sides of the spindle and extend beneath theunderside of the flange 30. Mounted upon the upper faces of the arms 21near to their free ends are the friction pads 28 which are positioned onopposite sides of the spindle axis on a diameter of the flange 30 andthe pads 28 are normally held by the brake lever 25 in a spaced relationfrom the under surface of the flange 38 during the normal running of thespindle blade but they are brought into engagement with the undersurface of the flange when the brake lever 25 is depressed to the dottedposition shown in Fig. 1, and lift the spindle blade bodily a sufficientdistance to separate the frictional driving connection of the flange 3|]with the whirl 23 and to bring the upper surface of the flange 30 firmlyagainst the friction pad 3| depending from the underside of theoverhanging support 32 whereby the combined frictional action of thepads 28 and 3| readily bring the spindle blade to a stop.

The strand material M which is to be folded and twisted, is in the formof a flat continuous strip or ribbon of paper, is unwound from asuitable source of supply, such as a roll (not shown) by the pull of thefeeding rolls I5 and I6. As the paper strip is being unwound from thesupply roll and before reaching the front feed rolls l5 and IE it passesunder the idler rollers El and 6 2 of the shoe 63 which presses thepaper against the wet top peripheral surface of a moistening roll 65freely rotatable with its lower portion immersed in the water containedin the trough 66 and revolved therein as the paper ribbon is given alongitudinal movement. The ribbon of paper l4, after being thusmoistened, is drawn forwardly over the idler roller 61 by the pull ofthe feeding rolls l5 and I6 and before reaching them it passes throughthe former F which folds the moving ribbon of paper into a tube-likebody of generally U-shaped cross-section having both longitudinal edgesof the ribbon rolled inwardly on the same side of the ribbon with eachedge being disposed inside of the tube between two plies of the materialat each side of the center (see Fig. 6) thereby making a combinedthickness of six plies. The structure of the former F' is essentiallythat set forth and claimed in my copending application, Serial No.409,013, filed August 30, 1941, entitled Former for paper string. Thefolded ribbon is drawn between the feed rolls l5 and I6 and in passingtherethrough the top and bottom parts of the folded ribbon arecompressed together and is practically a flat multi-ply ribbon as itissues from the feed rolls for twisting.

The exterior operating surfaces of the feed rolls l5 and 16 havecomplementary shapes, and in the present instance, the upper roll I5 isprovided with a circumferential rib which is received by acircumferential groove formed in the large lower roll I6. The lower feedroll I6 is positively driven by suitable mechanism (not shown) while theupper feeding roll I5 is freely rotatable on the upper end portion ofthe pivoted arm l8 which is suitably weighted and arranged to normallypress the upper roll against the lower roll to compress and flatten thefolded ribbon passing therebetween. The compressed and flattened strandM as it issues from the delivery side of the rolls l5 and I6 is drawnover the guide I9 made of porcelain or other wear-resisting materialmounted on the outer free end of the feeler 2B, and thence passesthrough the guide eye E and is led through the traveler l3 to the bobbinon the spindle ID in the usual manner by which arrangement the twistedstrand I4 is formed.

As above indicated, it is desirable immediately upon breakage of anytwisted strand M to stop the feed of the twisted strand to the bobbinand at the same time to stop the rotation of the spindle carrying thebobbin upon which the twisted strand is being wound, and for thispurpose the free end of the long actuating arm of the brake lever 25 isslotted as at 34 and an upright rod 35, which forms the actuating rod ofthe stop motion mechanism, is pivoted at its lower end to this arm by abolt 36 which extends through the slot 34 and has movement lengthwisetherein during pivotal movement of the brake lever 25 to and frombraking position. The rod 35 has sliding movement through holes in thespaced arms 31 and 38 of the U-shaped bracket 49. The upper arm 38 isshown as being considerably longer than the lower arm 31 and is fixedlysecured in a suitable manner to the underside of the usual rail 4| ofthe machine.

Fixed to the upper end of the rod 35 is an upright coupling device 42which has pivotal and sliding connection with the rearwardly extendingarm of the bell crank in a suitable manner, as by the pivot pin 43 whichextends through the slot 1| formed in the outer end portion of the arm10. The upright arm of the bell crank 15 serves as a hand lever forresetting the stop motion after it has become operative to stop the feedand. the wind. The bell crank 15 is fast on the rock shaft 14 on whichthe weighted arm l8 carrying the upper roll I5 is also loosely fulcrumedby means of a key accommodated within a wider slot than the key formedin the hub of the arm l8.

Mounted upon the rod and disposed between the arms 31 and 38 of thebracket is a helical spring 45, one end of which bears against a collar46 suitably secured to the rod 35, as by means of a set screw 41, whilethe other end of the spring 45 bears against the inner face of the arm38 of the bracket as an abutment.

A collar 48 is provided on the portion of the rod 35 intermediate thecoupling 42 and the arm 38 of the bracket 40 and the opposite ends ofthis collar are bevelled as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The lower bevelledend face of the collar presents a shoulder 49 which is engaged by atooth 50 formed on the free end portion of a pivoted latch lever 5| ofthe stop motion mechanism whereby the rod 35 is normally held in itsretracted and inoperative position as shown in Fig. 1, against thecompression of the spring during the normal operation of the machine.The spring 45 will be compressed sufiiciently to provide the necessaryforce for forcibly impelling the latch rod 35 downwardly when the lever5| is suddenly tripped and moved to one side by the upwardly movement ofthe feeler 2!] when a strand breaks, to disengage the tooth from itslocking position with the shoulder 49 as shown in Fig. 3, the particularstructure for effecting the tripping of the latch lever 5| beinghereinafter more fully described.

Thus, when the actuating rod 35 of the stop motion mechanism is releasedand allowed to move downwardly by the action of the spring 45 thedescent of the rod 35 will not only depress the brake arm 25 to separatethe frictional drive members of the spindle and apply pressure to causethe spindle to come to a stop but at the same tim it will swing the arm10 of th bell crank downwardly to move the handle of the bell crank 15into the dotted position indicated at 15a.

This movement of the bell crank will turn the rock shaft 14 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 and thus take up the smallclearance normally existing between the key and the wall of the slottoward which the key is being swung by the turning movement of the shaft14 and to engage this wall so that further turning of the shaft 14 inthe same direction as the arm 10 of the bell crank moves to complete itsdownward swing will raise the curved arm l8 and the upper roller l5.Conversely, forward movement of the hand lever arm of the bell crank 15from the dotted position 15a into the vertical position shown in fulllines in Fig. 1 will raise the bell crank arm 10 and with it the rod 35and the brake lever 25 against the tension of the spring 45, therebyresetting the stop motion with the parts taking the position shown inFig. 1 and held locked in place by the latch lever 5|.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the essential operatingmechanism of my improved stop motion consists of the spring-actuatedretractile stop-motion actuating rod 35, the latch lever 5| for holdingthe latch lever normally locked in a retracted and inactive position, alobe-shaped feeler mount 52 (hereafter called cam) which is pivoted inan off-balanced position on an extended portion of the latch lever 5|and yieldably connected thereto by a lug 59, a feeler 20 mounted on thecam 52 in an overhanging relationship for engaging an unbroken run ofstrand material, and an oscillatable power driven knock-off dog 53 fortripping the latch member 5| to effect the release of the rod 35 uponengagement of the dog with the cam 52 when it drops into the path ofoscillatory movement of the dog and is struck forcibly to one sidefollowing breakage of the strand material to free the feeler from thetension normally supporting the feeler in a depressed position with thecam removed from the path of swing of the dog.

Referring again to Fig. 1, the latch lever 5| consists of a curved armpivoted at one end to an upright support 54 suitably bolted to thelever. The cam 52 is pivoted to the outer end of the arm extension 60 ofthe latch lever and when the catch or tooth 50 is normally positioned inengagement with the shoulder 49 of the collar 48, as above described,the cam 52 weighting the feeler arm 20 will be both in the relationshipshown in this figure, and the oscillating dog 53, which is positivelyoscillated by means of the shaft 55 and suitable gearing (not shown)will be oscillated to and fro in an are from the full line position tothat indicated by the dotted outline 5311 without striking the lowerback corner of the cam. However, whenever a twisted strand 4' becomesbroken the feeler arm 20 which normally is held down by the tension ofthe twisted yarn I4 being drawn upon the bobbin Will suddenly swingupwardly due to the sudden downward swing of the cam 52 about its pivot51 on the latch lever and the cam will then project into the path oftravel of the oscillating dog 53 with the laterally projecting lug 59resting upon the top surface of the arm extension 60. When the cam 52and the feeler 2|! are in this position the lower rear curved surface ofth cam 45 will be struck by the finger 58 projecting laterally from theoscillatable dog 53 to lift both the weighted cam 52 and the latch lever5| and thereby push them bodily to one side in a combined outwardly andupwardly direction to quickly pull the tooth 50 out from beneath theshoulder 49 of the collar 48 whereby the rod 35 will be instantlyimpelled downwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that depictedin Fig. 3 by the sudden release and expansion of the spring 45 andthereby actuate the brake lever 25 to quickly bring the rotating spindleto a stop and also to raise the upper roll I5 to stop the feed of theribbon M.

If the twisted strand I4 is merely slackened gradually instead ofbreaking, as would occur when the entire machine is being shut down, thefeeler 20 will tilt upwardly to assume a slightly oblique position butthe tension of the unbroken strand M will prevent it from being moved tosuch an extent as to bring the cam 52 into striking engagement with thedog 53 so as to disengage the latch tooth 50 and release the stop motionactuating rod 35.

I claim:

1. In a spinning or twisting machine, the combination with means forfeeding a strand of material to be twisted, means for twisting saidstrand, means for winding the twisted strand upon a rotary receiver, anda brake mechanism associated with said winding means, of a springloaded, stop motion actuating rod operatively connected at one end tosaid feeding means and at the other end to said brake mechanismassociated with said winding means, the said rod being so arranged thatwhen actuated by said spring it will render said feeding means for thestrand inoperative and at the same time actuate said brake mechanism tostop the winding means for said strand, abutment means on saidstopmotion actuating rod presenting a shoulder, a pivoted latch leverhaving a downwardly inclined arm with a catch element at the outer endof the arm, said lever being pivoted to move said catch to operative andinoperative positions relative to said shoulder, said catch normallyengaging said shoulder to hold the said stop motion actuating rod in aretracted and inoperative position during the normal operation of themachine, an oscillatable positively-driven knock-off member, a cammember pivoted for up and down movement on said latch lever, a feeleraffixed to said cam member for pivotal movement therewith and having aguide at its outer end for engaging an unbroken strand as it is fed bythe feeding means to the twisting means, said feeler being normallysupported by the tension of the strand passing over the guide to keepsaid cam above and out of the path of oscillatory movement of saidpower-driven knock off member; and means on said cam to engage saidlatch lever and limit the extent of downward swing of said cam into theoscillatory path of said positivelydriven knock-off member when thestrand breaks or gives out, said last named means acting to connect saidcam and said latch lever whereby they will move together as a rigid bodywhen said cam is pushed forward by said power-driven knock-off member asufficient distance to swing the latch lever far enough to disengage thecatch from the shoulder and release the stop motion actuating rod forrendering said rod operative under the action of its spring.

2. In a stop motion, a retractile stop motion actuating rod, a springabout said rod adapted to move said rod from a retracted position,abutment means on said rod presenting a shoulder to be engaged by acatch for holding said rod in a retracted and inoperative position, apivoted latch lever having three arms, the outer end of one of said armsbeing formed with a catch, said lever being pivoted at the outer end ofanother arm whereby the swinging movement of said lever will move saidcatch to operative and inoperative positions, said catch in itsoperative position engaging said shoulder and normally holding saidretractile member in a retracted and inoperative position, anoscillatable power-driven knock-off member, a weighted member pivoted tothe third arm of said latch lever and having swinging movementdownwardly into the path of oscillatory movement of said knock-offmember, a feeler aflixed to said weighted member for pivotal movementtherewith and having a guide at its free end for engaging a strandwhereby the feeler will be normally held in a depressed position by thetension of an unbroken strand passing over said guide to keep saidweighted member above and out of the path of oscillatory movement ofsaid knock-01f member, and a lug projecting outwardly from a side ofsaid weighted member to engage said latch lever and limit the downwardswing of the weighted member into the path of said positively-drivenknock-off member when the strand breaks or gives out, said lug acting tocon nect said weighted member and said latch lever whereby they willmove together as a rigid body when said weighted member is pushedforward by said knock-off member a sufficient distance to swing thelatch lever forwardly enough to disengage the catch from said shoulderto release said retractile stop motion actuating rod and permit it to beactuated by its spring.

3. In a stop motion, a retractile stop motion actuating rod, a springthereon adapted to move said rod from a retracted position, a collarfast on said rod presenting a shoulder to be engage by a tooth memberfor holding said rod in a retracted and inoperative position, a latchlever having three arms, one of said arms being inclined downwardly andformed with a tooth member at the outer end of the arm, another of saidarms curving upwardly above said toothed arm, said latch lever beingpivoted at the outer end of said curved arm to-move said tooth tooperative and inoperative positions, said tooth normally engaging saidshoulder to hold said rod in a retracted and inoperative position, anoscillatable power-driven knock-off member, a cam member pivoted to thethird arm of said latch lever and movable into a. position to be actedupon by said oscillatory knock-off member upon downward movement of saidcam member, a feeler affixed to said cam member for pivotal movementtherewith and having a guide at its free end for engaging a strandwhereby the feeler will be normally held in a depressed position by thetension of an unbroken strand passing over said guide to keep said cammember above and out of the path of oscillatory movement of saidknock-off member, and a projection on said cam member arranged to engagethe latch lever and limit the extent of downward swing of the cam memberinto the path of said positively driven knock-off member when the strandbreaks or gives out, said projection acting to connect said cam and saidlatch lever whereby they will move together as a rigid body when saidcam is pushed forward by said knock-off member a sufficient distance toswing the latch lever forwardly enough to disengage the tooth from saidshoulder to release said retractile stop motion actuating rod and permitit to be actuated by its spring and move the rod from a retractedposition.

4. In a stop motion, a spring loaded retractile stop motion actuatingrod, a collar on said rod presenting a shoulder to be engaged by a toothwhen said rod is held thereby in a retracted potentially charged andinoperative position, an upright support, a latch lever having threearms, one of said arms curving upwardly and pivoted at its outer end tosaid support, another of said arms extending downwardly and having atooth at the outer end of the arm engaging said shoulder to hold saidrod retracted and inoperative; the third arm of said latch lever beingextended horizontally, an oscillatable power-driven mem: her having alaterally projecting knock-oil dog, a feeler mount having a convexedlycurved lobe and pivoted at one end to the outer end of said horizontalarm of said lever and arranged to swing said lobe portion downwardlyinto the path oit oscillatory movement of said knock-01f dog, a feeleraffixed to said feeler mount for pivotal movement therewith and having aguide at its free end for engaging a strand whereby the feeler will benormally held in a depressed position by the tension of an unbrokenstrand passing over said guide to keep said lobe of the feeler mountabove and out of the path ofr'said oscillatory movement of saidknock-off dog; and a lug projecting outwardly from a side of said feelermount to engage the top side of saidif horizontal arm of the latch leverand limit the downward swing of the lobe into the path of saidpositively-driven knock-01f dog when the strand-breaks or gives out,said lug acting to connect said cam and said latch lever whereby theywill move together as a rigid body when said cam is pushed forward bysaid knock-off dog a suflicient distance to swing the latch leverforwardly enough to disengage the tooth irom said shoulder to releasesaid spring-loaded retractile rod and permit it to be actuated by itsspring and move the rod from a retracted position.

GEORGE E. REPASS.

